The Mommy Track Meets the Tenure Track.

The Nation [1] recently ran a piece detailing how academics who are mothers are faced with career obstacles not experienced by their male colleagues. "Balancing family and work is one reason why achieving tenure is so difficult for women," Kay Steiger wrote in the magazine. "The average age of someone applying for tenure is 33, and the review process takes about five years from the day he or she is hired at the institution. This coincides directly with when many women are considering starting families." (March 2007)